Come Together
by hummerhouse
Summary: Raphael prefers Donatello's company and is not sure why. Donatello seems to share that sentiment. Written for the Raphael & Donatello Pairing Fanbook - Fire Meet Gasoline. One shot -2k3. Turtlecest, Raphael/Donatello


"Yo Mikey, ya' seen Donny around?" Raph asked his younger brother, who was sprawled on the couch.

"Garage," Mikey said, peeking over the top of his comic book to look at Raph. "Are you his shadow all of a sudden? In the last month you've hardly left him alone."

"That ain't true," Raph stated defensively, crossing his arms. "He does stuff by himself all the time. You're just jealous that I don't want to hang out with _you_."

"Totally your fault that you can't acknowledge my awesomeness," Mikey said, returning to his comic.

"More like I don't want to be bored out of my shell," Raph shot at him before turning away. Walking across the lair to the elevator, Raph's pulse quickened. It was a reaction he'd been having for weeks now each time that he knew he'd be interacting with Donatello.

Raph had tried to analyze why he'd get so excited about being near one of his brothers more than the other two. There was certainly nothing new about their interactions and they frequently saw each other every day. Don hadn't changed as far as Raph could tell, so it had to be Raph himself who had changed.

Maybe it was the fact that Raph liked having a purpose and Donny gave him that. They had many shared interests and even though Don was a certified genius, he never made Raph feel less intelligent because of it.

After lifting him, the elevator opened and deposited Raphael in the garage. Right away he heard the sounds of classic rock blaring from Don's little portable radio. Though Don had managed to configure their shell cells to be smart devices, he still insisted on using that radio for his entertainment. When Raph had asked him why, Don said the simplicity of the radio was similar to that of his bō staff, and he found that to be comforting.

That was just another thing Raph liked about Don, how he could keep himself so grounded. Who knew how many brilliant scientists, engineers, and doctors had alienated themselves from their friends and family because they couldn't connect to the guileless side of their psyche.

Since Raph knew better than to surprise Don while he was working, he quietly approached his brother's work area. Raph could just see the bottom parts of Don's grease covered legs showing from beneath the raised Battle Shell.

A thought came unbidden to Raph's mind, one in which he knelt before Don and carefully washed his brother's legs. Raph could almost feel those firmly muscled olive hued calves beneath his palms and had to shake his head to dispel the fantasy.

Too many ideas like that one had started to come unbidden into Raph's imagination. How in the world could he justify such erotic worship of someone who was his brother?

From the way Don was muttering, Raph could tell he was having trouble with something. To let his brother know that he was no longer alone, Raph reached over and slowly began to turn down the volume on the radio.

"What now?" Don asked aloud, sounding frustrated. Don's legs shifted as he squirmed out from beneath the Battle Shell, tools in hand and grease caked on various parts of his body.

When he sat up he saw Raph grinning down at him. Rather than aggravation, Don felt an instant sense of relief wash over him.

"Raph! I am so happy to see you!" Don exclaimed, rising to his feet. "That is, if you've come to offer me some help," he added hopefully.

"What, ya' wouldn't be happy to see me otherwise?" Raph asked teasingly.

He was surprised to see a blush cross Don's cheeks. It made Raph's heart beat a little faster.

"Of course I would," Don said, his tone warm.

"Good, 'cause I did come to help ya'," Raph told him. "What's wrong with the beast?"

Stepping past Raph to set his tools down, Don picked up a shop towel and began to wipe ineffectually at his hands. "Bent tie rod," Don answered. "I'll have to replace it, but I haven't got a spare."

"So we'll go to the junk yard and get one," Raph said. "If we head out now, we'll have six or seven hours to find the part and get it off another truck. Between the two of us, we can handle that."

Raph phrased it that way in the hopes that Don wouldn't feel the need to involve any other members of the family. He wanted to be alone with Don, which was sheer selfishness, but Raph couldn't help it.

"I'd prefer if it was just us," Don said, almost as if he'd read Raph's thoughts. "Things go much smoother if I'm not having to explain auto mechanics to Leo and Mikey."

If possible, Raph's smile broadened. Even if they were just trying to do a job, it still meant that Raph would have Donatello to himself for the entire night.

"We can go on my motorcycle," Raph suggested. "Leave a note for the others so they'll know where we've gone."

"I like that plan," Don said, quickly scribbling on a scrap piece of paper while Raph gathered the tools they'd need. "If we went down to tell them, one or both would want to go too, and I'm really not in the mood to be around anyone but you."

As soon as he said that, Don bit his lip and blushed again. His head was down and Raph probably wouldn't have noticed that reaction if he hadn't been so elated at Don's words and looked over at his brother.

At that moment, Raph had an overwhelming desire to tell Don how he felt about him, even if he wasn't positive what those feelings were.

"Hey Donny, have ya' ever had a hard time explaining something to someone 'cause ya' ain't sure what you're trying to say?" Raph asked.

Don glanced up at him, brow furrowed. "I'm not certain I know what you mean. Can you put it into context?"

Feeling suddenly foolish, Raph bit his own tongue, using the pain to remind himself that he should keep his mouth shut about the rush of very foreign emotions that were affecting him.

"Nah, it's nothing," Raph muttered, stuffing tools into Don's duffel bag. "I think we've got everything. Ya' ready to go?"

"Yep," Don said as he set a hammer atop his note to keep it from flying away.

Don took the duffel bag from Raph and climbed onto the motorcycle behind the larger turtle. Accepting a helmet from his brother, Don put it on and then wrapped his arms around Raph's waist as his brother sped from the garage.

Every nerve in Raph's body was practically singing at having Don pressed against him and holding on so tightly. They reached the junk yard much too soon in Raph's opinion; he would have liked to keep driving around for hours, but of course Don would have wondered why.

"Looks like they've moved the vehicles to the new section of the yard," Don observed.

Raph drove slowly into that sector, weaving between stacks of busted cars to the spot where the larger trucks were kept. Their favorite junk yard had expanded; reclaiming a land fill area as a way to keep up with demand for more space.

"Seems better organized," Raph said, parking the motorcycle.

"I like this," Don declared as he climbed off the bike and stood looking out over the yard. "It's better than hunting through the entire yard trying to find the parts I need. I see two dump trucks sitting over there that will probably have the right sized tie rod."

Slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder, Don jogged over to the trucks. Raph paused next to the motorcycle and watched Donatello move, enjoying the supple play of muscles beneath his skin.

Mikey often teased Raph about his weight lifting and how he was trying to show off his physical abilities, but they all knew that Donny was nearly as strong as the larger turtle. Don spent untold hours working on everything from plumbing to security systems, to every vehicle they owned. His wrists were like steel cables, something Raph knew well from arm wrestling with the genius.

Blinking rapidly, Raph pulled himself out of his reverie and saw that Don had climbed into the cab of one of the trucks, no doubt looking to see what else he could salvage while they were here.

Raph had taken no more than two steps towards his brother when the ground started to shake. From beneath him Raph heard the ground moan and then there was a loud cracking noise.

Looking up, Raph watched in horror as the two dump trucks suddenly shifted towards each other. He had a momentary glimpse of his brother's wide, surprised eyes, then the ground opened up and swallowed the trucks with Don inside of one of them.

"Donny!" Raph shouted, sprinting towards the spot and ignoring the danger of what had just become very unstable earth.

Clouds of dust rose up from what was now a huge sinkhole. Knowing he couldn't help his brother if he too fell in, Raph lowered himself onto his stomach and carefully crawled to the edge of the hole.

"Donny!" Raph yelled again, coughing as dust covered his tongue. "Donny!"

Heavy coughing answered him and though Raph was relieved to hear his brother, he was anxious to know if Don was coughing because of the dirt or because he was injured.

"Don, can ya' talk to me?" Raph asked. "Where are ya' bro'? Are ya' hurt?"

"I'm okay!" Don called out. Another fit of coughing overtook him, and then he said, "They didn't take into account how close the river was to this section! It washed tunnels under . . . ."

"Not now, Donny! Can ya' get out of there?" Raph asked.

For a couple of minutes there was no sound and Raph could feel his panic starting to rise.

"The doors are jammed but I can crawl through the front window," Don said. "I can't climb these walls though; they're too loose. You should get back from the edge before it collapses and dumps you down in here too."

"To hell with that!" Raph snapped. "Tell me something I can do."

Sounding just a little too calm, Don said, "You could go back to the lair and get some help."

Silence. Raph knew damn well there was no time for him to go for help or to wait for any. The ground was already making rumbling noises again and the possibility that Don would be buried alive was quite high.

"I don't suppose ya' could toss that coil of rope ya' keep in your duffel bag up to me?" Raph asked.

"I left my bag on the ground next to the truck," Don said. "It's buried under half a ton of dirt."

Think. If he had any clothes, Raph would willingly strip down to his skin to make a rope to toss down to his brother. There wasn't enough of his gear to do the job and the only material on his bike was the seat.

A lightbulb went off in Raph's head. Seats!

"Hang on Donny!" Raph yelled. "I've got an idea. Don't move, okay?"

"Be careful, Raph. Don't try to get down here, the area is far too unstable," Don cautioned.

Raph didn't take the time to answer, instead crawling back until he could safely get to his feet. Running at full tilt, Raph headed straight for the junked cars, his belt knife in hand.

As fast as he could, Raph began to tear into the car seats. Cloth, vinyl, leather; he didn't care as long as he could cut it into strips and tie it together.

The ground shook again and another puff of dust rose from the sinkhole, but Raph didn't have time to check on Don. He could only hope his brother was remaining in as safe a spot as he could manage.

When he had a large enough coil of rope, Raph tied one end to his motorcycle and then slithered along the ground until he was once more at the edge of the sinkhole.

"Heads up, Donny!" Raph shouted down to his brother. He could just make out Don's form through the dust cloud and tossed the rope to him.

"Got it!" Don exclaimed. "You can't pull me up, Raph. The added weight will collapse the ground around your feet."

"I figured that," Raph said. "The rope's tied off to my bike. Loop the rope around ya' and then hang on. I'm gonna yank ya' out of there fast so the ground don't fall in on ya'."

"I'll be ready," Don assured him.

Racing back to his bike, Raph jumped on and revved the engine. Wheels spinning up loose dirt, Raph shot away from the sinkhole, feeling the tug on his bike that indicated he was pulling his brother's weight.

As soon as he thought he was at a safe distance, Raph slowed the motorcycle and brought it to a stop. Leaping off, he ran back to where Don lay unmoving on the ground.

"Donny, oh shell, Donny," Raph muttered, yanking the rope off of his brother and flipping Don over. Kneeling next to him, Raph pulled Don half across his lap and began stroking his face.

Eyes fluttering, Don coughed and then looked up at his brother. "I lost my best tools," he groaned.

Raph started laughing and Don joined in. Letting out a puff of air, Raph sobered and said, "To hell with the tools. I'll steal ya' a bunch more."

"Thanks, Raph. I was sure I was a goner," Don said.

In the next instant, Raph's mouth was covering Don's. He didn't stop to think about it; Raph reacted purely from instinct and adrenaline. After a second of shocked surprise, Don slung an arm around Raph's neck and returned the kiss, deepening it so that their tongues wound together.

"I can't believe ya' feel the same way," Raph whispered breathlessly when their lips finally separated.

"For a while now," Don admitted. "I didn't know what to do about it."

"Me either," Raph said. "Don't know if I'm supposed to feel this way for my own brother and don't really care."

"That's good to know, because after my near death experience, I'm not passing up this chance to love you," Don said, sitting up from Raph's arms.

Raph stood and helped Don rise. "Easy there, genius. Ya' got a nasty case of gravel rash and enough scrapes, bruises, and cuts for a small army. Let's get ya' home and cleaned up."

Allowing Raph to support him, Don limped over to the motorcycle and sat down while his brother removed the makeshift rope. Tossing it aside, Raph helped seat the helmet on Don's head and then climbed on in front of him.

"Make sure ya' hang on nice and tight," Raph said as he started the bike.

Once more Don's arms snaked around his middle and his palms flattened against Raph's plastron. Scooting forward, Don pressed himself tightly against his brother.

"You know, I'm not hurting that badly," Don said. "It'd be okay with me if you wanted to take it around the block a few times."

Raph grinned, his chest swelling with a sudden awakening of feelings. Being in love with a genius had perks, one of which was that they were so often on the same wavelength. That had helped them tonight to finally come together.

End


End file.
